Microsoft Taking Things Slow With Surface, Says Ballmer

Microsoft hasn’t disclosed initial sales figures for its new Surface tablet, and don’t expect it to until the company has fully ramped up the device’s distribution.

Speaking to France’s Le Parisien, Ballmer said Surface sales “are starting modestly.” But the reason for that, he said, isn’t necessarily a lack of consumer interest, but the device’s limited distribution. Surface is available only from Microsoft’s online store and, in the U.S., at a few dozen brick-and-mortar stores and pop-up outlets.

Even so, Surface supplies have been constrained, something that Ballmer